Understanding Your Gas Bill

Metered Utility Service

This brochure is designed to help you understand your gas bill. If you still have questions after consulting the brochure, please call our Customer Relations Department on Oahu at 535-5933 (press 2), or your Neighbor Island office.

If you are a utility customer, gas will be piped to your home or business through a meter. The meter measures how much gas you use, and you are billed accordingly. Commercial and industrial gas meters are read monthly, and customers are billed for usage during that period. Residential meters generally are read every other month (except for certain meters capable of being read remotely, which are read each month). Bills are sent out monthly. Gas usage for months between meter readings is estimated, based on your average use over the previous six months. Any necessary adjustments for estimated gas usage are made on the next bill, after the meter has been read again. A special brochure entitled “Understanding Your Estimated Gas Bill and The Return of Estimate” is available to explain how estimated consumption is handled on your bills.

All utility customers are entitled to request a state ment of actual gas consumption once a year for each billing period of the prior year. You should make this request by calling Oahu Customer Relations, 535-5933 (residential customers press 2, commercial customers press 5) or your Neighbor Island office.

The dollar amount on your gas bills may vary for many reasons, including: (1) changes in the cost of crude oil, (2) variations in the length of the billing period, (3) colder weather, and (4) house guests. You are encouraged to check the meter readings on your gas bill if you have any questions about your actual usage.

This brochure contains a line-by-line explanation of the entries on a hypothetical sample utility gas bill. A sample bill with each entry numbered is also provided for easy reference.

1. Account No.—Refer to this number when speaking to a Company representative about your bill or account.

2. Class—This entry shows your billing classification, which indicates the rate schedule that is used to compute your bill.

3. Service Type—Shows whether your service is utility (U) or nonutility (N), synthetic natural gas (SNG), propane (LPG), metered, tank or cylinder, etc.

4. Meter ID—The identification number of your meter (identifies the type of meter and the corresponding dial multiplier for purposes of computing the factor in item 8).

5. Last Reading Date and Read—Shows the date when your meter was last read and the previous reading.

6. Current Reading Date and Read—Shows the date your meter was most recently read and the reading recorded. If the word “Estimate” appears, your current month’s gas usage was estimated based on your usage for the past six months, rather than read. Please see our brochure entitled “Understanding Your Estimated Gas Bill and The Return of Estimate” for a thorough explanation.

7. Read Days—The number of days between your last and current meter readings.

8. Factor—This number is used to convert the volume of gas consumed, as measured by your meter, to therms. Therms measure the amount of energy contained in the gas used. The gas is priced in dollars per therm in accordance with the rate schedule that is applicable to your class of service (see item 2). The factor is based on the dial multiplier for your type of meter (see item 4), the gas pressure, and the energy content of the gas per cubic foot.
9. Therms—The number of units of energy used during the billing period (1 therm=100,000 Btu). The number of therms used is calculated by taking the number of cubic feet of gas use (volume) times the factor (item 6 - item 5 x item 8).
10. Gas Charges—The charge for gas used during the billing period. It is calculated by multiplying the number of therms (item 9) times the rate per therm shown on this line, as taken from the applicable rate schedule (item 2).
11. Adjustment to Minimum Bill—Certain commercial rate schedules require a minimum monthly therm usage. The dollar amount on this line represents any difference between actual therms used and the minimum therms required to qualify for your currently effective rate schedule. If your bill frequently shows an Adjustment to Minimum Bill, consult with your Sales Account Executive to determine whether another rate schedule might be more advantageous to you.
12. Fuel Cost Adjustment—Reflects increases or decreases from a base price of fuel that was set by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in the Company’s last rate case.
13. Customer Charge—The fixed, monthly charge for servicing your account. This charge covers a portion of the Company’s fixed costs, such as for the underground pipeline system used to serve you.
14. Field Collection Charge—The fee for a field call to collect payment of an overdue bill. Other miscellaneous charges may also appear on your bill under Current Charges, with an accompanying explanation.
15. Other Service—The Company offers certain nongas goods and services, and your bill may reflect the date, amount and a description of any such goods and services you request.
16. State GET @ 4.166%—General excise tax on goods and services.
17. Deposit—The Company may require a deposit to guarantee future payments. GET is not applicable to deposits.
18. U-Finance Charge at 12% APR—A late payment charge of 1% per month, 12% per year, is applicable to bill balances unpaid as of the next billing date. GET is not applicable to finance charges.
19. Total Current Charges—The total amounts for the current billing period for Gas Service and Other Service. These two amounts are summed in item 22.
20. Previous Balance—The amount payable on your prior bill.
21. Payments/Adj’s—Payments, credits, or adjustments to your prior bill amount.
22. Current Charges—The sum of your Gas Service and Other Service charges from item 19.
23. Total Amount Due—Your Previous Balance minus Payments/Adj’s plus Current Charges (item 20 – item 21 + item 22 = item 23).
24. Payment Due Date for Current Charges—Bill payment must be received by this date to avoid finance charges (item 18).
25. Amount Paid—Fill in the amount you are paying.

The Gas Company Offices:

Oahu
TOPA
745 Fort Street, Suite 1800
Honolulu 96813
Phone: 535-5933 Fax: 535-5932
24-Hour Emergency Number: 526-0066

Hilo
945 Kalanianaole Ave., Hilo 96720
Phone: 935-0021 (24-hour) Fax: 969-9134
Kona
74-5564 Kaiwi St., Kailua Kona 96740
Phone: 329-2984 (24-hour) Fax: 329-9153
Kauai
3990 Rice Street, Lihue 96766
Phone: 245-3301 (24-hour) Fax: 246-9581
Maui
70 Hana Highway, Kahului 96732
Phone: 877-6557 (24-hour) Fax: 877-0758
Molokai
Ulili St., Molokai Industrial Park
Kaunakakai 96748
1-800-828-9359 (24-hour) Fax: 877-0758
Lanai
730 Lanai Ave., Lanai City 96763
1-800-828-9359 (24-hour) Fax: 877-0758